“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

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A local Christian church left an empty red bag on our doorstep with a note asking for food donations. I took it inside and tossed it on the kitchen counter, mentally excusing myself from assisting because: A. It wasn’t my church, B. I’d just finished a similar project, and C. I had a zillion things to do.

The next morning when I was reading the story of the Good Samaritan, I thought, Thank God I’m not like those people who ignored that desperate man. And then the red bag caught my eye.

I felt a lot like the priest who, “when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road” (Luke 10:31). The priest kept his distance. Then the temple worker essentially stopped for a nanosecond and said, “Looks like you’re pretty banged up there,” shrugged, and wandered off.

Finally, the Samaritan showed up, and “when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him” (v.33). Jesus’ parable showed that compassion—not just good works— separated the Samaritan from the coldhearted religious people who strolled on by.

True Christian service flows from compassion. Jesus continually responded to human suffering with a caring heart. “Jesus wept” (John 11:35), and then He resuscitated Lazarus. “When the Lord saw [the widow], His heart overflowed with compassion” (Luke 7:13), and He brought her son back to life. Jesus “saw the huge crowd . . . and He had compassion on them” (Mark 6:34), so He began teaching them.

If you’ve become indifferent to the needs of others, will you open your eyes and heart to the “red bags”? Jesus lifted up the Good Samaritan as an example of a compassionate helper, and He gave us this charge: “Go and do the same” (Luke 10:37). —Jennifer Benson Schuldt, Our Daily Journey